Tony's Hiatus
by I. A. Johansen
Summary: Written for Anna's NCIS challenge. Please read it all the way through, it's really a good story. Tony kind of OOC.


Tony's Hiatus.

-NCIS-

**A/N: Written for Anna's NCIS challenge. I'm not putting my usual First Chapter stuff at the top cuz I don't to spoil too much of this one-shot for you. I'm unsure of how long it will be so…yeah. Please read it all the way through, it's really a good story. I will say this: I don't own NCIS. No OC's in this. Spoilers for 'Hiatus Pts 1 & 2' Kind of OOC for Tony.**

**__****NOT CHANGED: JUST FIXED ERRORS REGARDING THE DATES!**

_September 23, 2010._

The team had just finished up a very hard, ugly case. It hit everyone on the team hard, especially Tony. Ziva, McGee, and Gibbs were sitting at their desks when Tony came in and went straight up to Vance's office.

"Where is he going?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know." McGee responded, curious at Tony's strange behavior. "You know, Tony hasn't been acting very Tony-like lately. He hasn't called me a name once during since we started the case."

"Yes, he has been acting strange." Ziva agreed. "He has not referenced one movie."

"Or anything else. If anything, he's been acting more like Gibbs. No offense." McGee said.

"None taken." Gibbs dismissed. He was watching the director's door, waiting so he could confront Tony at the base of the stairs. _What's he doing?_

xxxNCISxxx

"I understand, Agent DiNozzo. Do you want me to tell the team or will you?" Vance said.

"I'll tell them. Thank you, Director." Tony said as he signed the paper in front of him.

"No problem. I hope you'll come back after a while."

"I dunno if I will or not, but I'll let you know ASAP." Tony said as he grabbed the paper and left the office.

xxxNCISxxx

Tony came down the stairs to find Gibbs waiting for him. "Here, Boss." He shoved the paper into Gibbs' hands and walked past him. Gibbs read the resignation paper and looked at Tony's retreating form. "DiNozzo!"

Tony stopped and looked back. "What?"

Gibbs waved the paper in front of his now former Senior Field Agent. "What is this?"

"It's a resignation, what's it look like?"

"Why?"

"Too much death for me now. That last case was the last straw."

"That's no reason for you to just up and leave."

"Then why did you three years ago?" Gibbs couldn't answer that. "Exactly."

"Are you gonna come back or leave for good?"

"I don't know."

"You got a place to stay?"

"Yeah."

"You got some sort of income?"

"I will."

"Okay. You gonna tell the others or do I have to do that?"

"I'll tell them."

"That include Abby?" Gibbs asked, knowing the young forensic scientist would blame him for Tony leaving.

"Yeah."

"Okay, good luck Tony." He said, going to his desk.

"Thank you, Bo…Agent Gibbs." Tony caught himself, Gibbs wasn't his boss anymore.

Tony went to his desk and started throwing his personal stuff into his backpack, leaving his gun and badge on Gibbs' desk.

"Tony, what are you doing?" Ziva said, standing up.

"I'm leaving."

"Leaving?" McGee said, unable to see the bullpen without Tony.

"Yeah, McGee, is that so hard to understand?"

"Where will you go?" Ziva asked.

"My buddy's house."

"No, Tony, where will you go to work as you aren't coming back." Tony didn't answer. "Tony?"

"None of your business."

Ziva was shocked. "What if we want to see you? What if Abby wants to see you?"

"I don't want you following me. Okay? Can you get that, Ziva? Or do I have to spell it out for you?" Tony exploded.

"No, I understand."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go tell Abby and Ducky about this." He said, storming out of the squad room.

"Gibbs, you are not going to stop him are you?" Ziva said.

"No. I know where he's coming from. I just handled it differently."

Ziva nodded and sat back down.

xxxNCISxxx

"Tony, you can't leave; we need you here!" Abby said, shocked at Tony.

"Too bad, I've seen too much death. But I want you to do something for me. Okay?"

Abby nodded. "What?"

"I don't want you to blame Gibbs for me leaving. I chose this, not him. This is all my decision. No one here forced me into this. Can you do that?"

"Yes. Can I have a hug before you leave?"

"Sure, Abs." Tony said, embracing the young woman.

"Where will you go now?"

Tony hesitated. "Don't worry about it Abs. I've got money, shelter, and food covered. I'll be fine."

"Okay. Bye, Tony."

"Bye, Abby." Tony said, kissing her cheek

xxxNCISxxx

"I understand, Anthony." Ducky said, knowing full well what Tony was going through. "I do hope you'll consider coming back after a little while."

"I'll think about it, Ducky."

"If you need someone to talk to…"

"I'll know where to go."

"Alright. Good-bye, Anthony."

"Bye, Ducky."

xxxNCISxxx

Abby had come up to the bullpen for some support when Tony came up from Autopsy. He looked at his now former team members, grabbed his stuff, nodded to Gibbs, and headed to the elevator. He took a deep breath and pushed the button for the ground floor. He was free; for now.

* * *

_November 16, 2011._

Fourteen months, just under two years. That's how long it's been since Tony had seen any of his team members. That's how long it had been since he started his new 'job'. Well, technically it was two jobs; one real one and one…let's say additional job.

His real job was working at a car repair shop. That was pretty cheap wages. His second was a bit more off the radar. He fought for extra money. He lost count how many wins he had. He only kept track of his losses. 13. Only 13 losses. So he had a pretty steady income. Each fight won was $100. He had a few battle scars but that was it; besides they were mostly on his arms. He guessed training with Gibbs in the ring had actually paid off.

"Hey, Tony, I got a fighter who thinks he can take you down." The fight manager said.

"He won't, Boss."

"I have no doubt about that, but there's a catch: if you win, he pays me $2,000. If he wins I pay him the same. But if you win, I split the payout with you. How's that sound?"

Tony thought about that. He wouldn't have to fight for a little while if he got those thousand dollars. "I'll do it. When's the fight?"

"Tonight, 7."

"I'll be there. And I'll win."

"I know you will."

xxxNCISxxx

The fight was in full progress and Tony was pulling his signature move. He would fake being down, so the other guy would get cocky then he would throw his foot out and knock the guy down to his knees at least. Then he attacked the guy's face with all his energy. This normally resulted in a KO. And it did so tonight.

The standard count to ten announced his win. No big deal in his mind.

"Alright Tony!" His boss yelled from the side.

He waited until his boss talked to the guy he fought and watched as the money was transferred from person to person. Then he confronted his boss. "Here you go Tony, your share." That was a difference between this guy and some of the other guys he'd heard about as a Baltimore cop: He actually kept his word.

"Thanks, Boss. Um, I'm going to take a little break from fighting for a while, let some of the bruises actually heal for once."

"Not a problem, you know when you're coming back?"

Tony flashed back to what Director Vance, Gibbs, and Ducky had said to him.

"_I do hope you'll consider coming back after a little while." _Ducky.

"_Are you gonna come back or leave for good?" _Gibbs.

"_I hope you'll come back after a while." _Vance.

"Tony? Hey, man, you alright?"

"Uh, yeah I'm fine. And no, I'm not sure when I'll come back. Probably when I need to blow off some more steam."

"We always got a place for you here, Tony."

"Thanks Boss." Tony said as he left the gym.

* * *

_March 23, 2012._

It had been nearly two and quarter years since Tony had been anywhere near this building. Tony had called the human resources department when he lost his job at the bar and began to lose more often in his fights. He took a deep breath and walked into the NCIS building.

xxxNCISxxx

"Welcome back, Tony!" The security guard greeted him, handing him the visitor's pass. "Finally decide to come back?"

"I'm hoping they'll let me come back, Tom."

"I hope so too; I missed your movie recommendations. Now I can't even get a girl to go to a movie with me."

Tony laughed. "I'll see you later."

xxxNCISxxx

In the elevator, Tony was hesitant in stepping out into the bullpen to get to the Director's office. Human resources had told him to go there. So much for walking in and sitting down to work the next day.

Finally, he headslapped himself and walked out of the elevator. He could feel the eyes of people following him.

"Tony!" a very familiar Israeli voice said.

He didn't look back, just kept on walking to the stairs.

xxxNCISxxx

"Go right in Tony." Cynthia said, smiling.

"Thanks, Cynthia." Tony said opening the door, and immediately his gut twisted into a knot. "Uh, hey Agent Gibbs."

"DiNozzo."

"Come on in, Tony. Have a seat." Vance said, standing up and gesturing to the table in front of his desk. Tony sank uneasily into the chair. "So I understand that you want back into NCIS, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, Agent Gibbs, would you be willing to take on a new Probie?"

"Not if he leaves like that again."

Vance looked at Tony. "I won't. I like this job better than what I used to do."

"Agent Gibbs?"

"Would be glad to take him back."

Tony smiled a little, but it wasn't his signature grin. If anything it was more like Gibbs' rare smirk. "Here's your gun and badge, Agent DiNozzo." Vance said, handing him the two items.

"Thank you, Director."

"Come on, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, walking out.

"On your six, Boss." Tony said, going to catch up with him.

xxxNCISxxx

"TONY!" Abby screeched, throwing her arms around the man.

"Gah! Hey, Abby." Tony said, grimacing.

"I'm so glad you're back. What's wrong?" Abby asked, seeing Tony's still grimacing face.

"Nothing, you just hit a bruise that's all."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Abs." Tony said, massaging his side.

"Good to see you again, Tony." McGee said, copping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Pro… McGee. I guess you're not the probie anymore are you?"

"I am glad to see you back, Tony." Ziva said, smiling at him.

"Anthony! It is good to see you again. Welcome back." Ducky said, patting the man's shoulder.

"Thanks, everyone. It's good to be back."

"So, when do you start back officially?" McGee asked.

"Tomorrow." Gibbs said.

"Great." Tony said.

"We will see you then, Tony." Ziva said.

"Yeah."

"DiNozzo, conference room." Gibbs said, heading for the elevator.

"Coming."

xxxNCISxxx

"DiNozzo, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Boss?"

"You haven't made a single smart remark, you haven't had that stupid DiNozzo grin on at all, and you're obviously injured. If you had a bruise, you wouldn't have grimaced so much when Abby hugged you, and you don't seem nearly as enthusiastic as you usually are. What happened while you were gone?"\

"Boss, the reason I grimaced that bad when Abby hugged me is because I recently lost a boxing match. It's a fresh wound. I haven't made a smart remark is because it's the first day back. And I'm not as enthusiastic because I've lost most of my enthusiasm due to the boxing. The reason I don't smile is because I have no reason to smile."

"Boxing, DiNozzo? Or were you fighting?"

Tony sighed. "Fighting."

Gibbs closed his eyes for a second. "DiNozzo… I can believe the smart remark excuse, but I don't believe the smiling thing. You just got rehired into NCIS and on my team again. I would smile even a little if I was in your position and that's saying something. But the fighting thing… why?"

"I needed to blow off steam."

"There are punching bags for that."

"I needed something that fought back."

"No excuse. If you need to blow off steam, you hit something. Not a wall or mirror, a punching bag. Or a pillow."

"It's in the past, Boss."

"Is it?"

"Yes, I stopped before I came here."

Gibbs stared at his agent. "My door's unlocked."

"I know, Boss. Thanks."

Gibbs nodded and sent the elevator back to the squad room. "Your desk is still your desk."

"Thanks, Boss."

Gibbs nodded and sat down at his desk. "DiNozzo! Go home, get some sleep."

"On it, Boss." Tony said, grateful for the excuse to slip out of there before Ziva and McGee started asking questions.

* * *

_April 15, 2011._

Tony had fully reintegrated back into the team, and had returned to his normal self, mostly. He still didn't make as many jokes as before, but everyone was glad to have him back. Gibbs noticed that he had actually gotten better at hand-to-hand combat, so much that when they trained, Tony managed to take Ziva down when she dropped her guard.

"Well done, Tony."

"Thanks, Ziva."

Gibbs smirked. Everything was back to normal. All was well.

* * *

Author's Notes.

Please Review.

This is my first time doing something based on Tony, so I would seriously appreciate it if you told me how I did.


End file.
